The South Asian diaspora is the group of people whose ancestral origins lie in South Asia, but who live outside the region. With more than 44 million people within the cultural diaspora, it is one of the largest in the world. The term encompasses all whose ancestral and cultural origins lie in the modern nations of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Nepal, with Pakistan and Afghanistan often included. The diaspora is considered a distinct ethnic group by many nations’ censuses, with it having the largest number of immigrants in the world.

Endonyms
South Asians in the diaspora are often referred to as Desis (Hindustani: देसी), a term embraced by many South Asians, though controversial to some. The term is used frequently by South Asian immigrants for native cuisine, lifestyle, clothing, and more.

History

Ancient era

Some South Asians lived in other parts of the world for trade purposes. During the Roman Empire, a few South Asians came to Europe. Additionally, there is evidence of contact between the ancient Greeks and South Asian civilisations, with some even having been suggested to have adopted a form of Greco-Buddhism.
As for the Roman Empire, many civilisations such as the Chera, Gupta, Kushan and Pandya empires are documented to have interacted and proceeded in commercial trade with the West, particularly through the Silk Road in the north, as written by Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy and Strabo.

Medieval era

Romani people

Colonial era

During the colonial era, over 1 million South Asians were taken to other parts of the world as indentured servants, to places such as Fiji, Guyana, and parts of the Caribbean. These immigrants formed the first large-scale South Asian diaspora community. For example, by 1946, the diaspora in Fiji accounted for 46% of the population. They formed unique dialects such as Fiji Hindustani and Caribbean Hindustani, with members of the diaspora rising to nationally significant roles. South Asians also were brought to parts of Southeast Asia as part of the British Empire.
Diaspora members played a significant role in opposing the British Raj as part of the Ghadar Movement, with many supporters of the movement fleeing the British Raj in favour of other nations, such as in North America, to continue Indian independence activism and the Ghadar Movement. At many times, these immigrants were returned to the British Raj, where they were often tried and imprisoned.
Some South Asians, mainly from Punjab, migrated to the West Coast in the United States, and mixed with the local Mexican community, whilst others moved to Canada, establishing a prominent South Asian diaspora in North America.

Contemporary era
South Asians have emigrated in record numbers since the end of the colonial era in the middle of the 20th century. Many South Asians migrated to the United Kingdom and participated in its post-war economic recovery. Some South Asians went to the Middle East for labour opportunities, though some were mistreated in a racist manner and exploited. After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that allowed nonwhite immigration was passed, Indian-Americans became the richest ethnic group in the United States, and comprise over 10% of the labour force in computing-related fields (see also: Deportation of Indian nationals under Donald Trump). Additionally, the group has in the contemporary era led to the creation of a unique Desi culture amongst members of the diaspora, with the creation of Little South Asias across the world, along with the election of diaspora members to important political and business roles.
Because South Asians had already dispersed across the world during the colonial era, a noted aspect of the diaspora is that it has produced several secondary diasporas - some of its members' families transited through several countries over generations to reach a final destination (e.g. a person's ancestors may have come from India to Africa, and then a few generations later from Africa to New Zealand).

Culture

Cinema
Some people in the diaspora watch South Asian cinema (mainly Bollywood), and some South Asian films feature diaspora characters. The Hindustani-language Bollywood industry has played a significant role in uniting the diaspora around Hindi as a common language for exploring its South Asian heritage. The diaspora's proficiency in English has also led to South Asian media catering to them using Hinglish, a hybrid of Hindi and English.

Sport
In general, South Asians have a complicated relationship to sport, as it can allow for cultural continuity in certain ways but can be used in other ways to disrupt negative social and physical perceptions of the diaspora.
South Asians introduced some of their traditional games, such as kabaddi and kho-kho, into countries like South Africa and Malaysia during the colonial era. In post-colonial times, kabaddi and kho-kho have been brought by the diaspora to some of the Western countries, with kabaddi used in some contexts to show masculinity in hostile environments.
Cricket, a popular sport in South Asia, has been patronised by the diaspora in North America and the Middle East, with the American Major League Cricket mainly targeting the diaspora audience. The sport has grown in Europe since the 2015 refugee crisis.

Music

Desi pubs

Community relations

Within the diaspora
South Asian diasporas represent a wide variety of linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and religious groups from across the subcontinent. There are sometimes tensions between these different groups within the diaspora. For example, the Hindu-Muslim tensions created by the 1947 Partition of India sometimes manifest themselves in divisions among Hindus and Muslims in the diaspora, particularly between those of Indian descent and those of Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent. These tensions have been noted more frequently among the diaspora in the United Kingdom since incidents such as the Babri Masjid demolition and the 2014 election of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India.
Discrimination based on the caste system occurs to some extent primarily within the Indian diaspora; in America, a non-scientific survey showed 67% of lower-caste Dalits had experienced caste discrimination in the workplace, and in California, there was heated debate within the diaspora as to whether to pass legislation explicitly banning caste discrimination.

The diaspora and South Asia
Diaspora communities have been noted for providing crucial economic support and remittances to countries within South Asia. India has issued diaspora bonds in certain crisis situations, such as the 1991 Indian economic crisis, and has given increasing priority to involving its diaspora. Diaspora graduates from MIT played a significant role in establishing the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Tensions have occurred between South Asian countries and their diasporas over support for separatist movements, as in the case of India and its Punjabi diaspora over the Khalistan movement. These tensions have sometimes boiled over to harming relations between South Asian countries and the host countries of the diaspora, as with the 2023 Canada-India diplomatic row.

The diaspora and its host countries
The Hindu diaspora has come under some scrutiny in its host countries for playing an increasingly significant role in promoting Hindu nationalism, with some diaspora members disapproving of the scrutiny and opposing Hindu nationalism.
Some Punjabis have joined gangs in recent decades in Canada.

In popular culture

North America
In the United States, representation of the South Asian diaspora has steadily increased; in previous decades, Apu of The Simpsons had been the most prominent South Asian representation, but now there is significantly more varied representation, with comedians like Hasan Minhaj achieving success.

Video games
Venba is a video game that depicts themes of Tamil-Canadian immigration by exploring Tamil cuisine.
Thirsty Suitors explores romantic relationships involving a South Asian-American protagonist.

Groups

Diaspora by host country

British South Asians
Dutch South Asians
Irish South Asians
South Asian Americans
South Asian Canadians
South Asians Canadians in Vancouver
South Asian Canadians in British Columbia
South Asian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area
South Asians in Hong Kong

Secondary diasporas
Indo-Caribbean diaspora
Indo-Fijian diaspora

Diaspora by origin country
Afghan diaspora
Bangladeshi diaspora
Indian diaspora
Maldivian diaspora
Nepalese diaspora
Pakistani diaspora
Sri Lankan diaspora

See also
Indian Arrival Day, commemorating the arrival of indentured labourers
Commonwealth diaspora, including other groups of former British subjects

Notes

References